1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved blood-purifying regenerated cellulose membrane and a process for the preparation thereof. More particularly, it relates to a blood-purifying regenerated cellulose which is improved in the compatibility with blood and a process for the preparation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, hemodialysis therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease has made rapid progress while being supported by advances of dialyzers, dialyzing instruments, and dialyzing technique, and has made great contributions to the survival and rehabilitation of patients with end-stage renal disease. Regenerated cellulose membranes, especially cuprammonium regenerated cellulose membrane, have played an important role in the development of the hemodialysis therapy, and the hemodialysis therapy has been and is being performed mainly by using cuprammonium regenerated cellulose membranes. This is because this membrane has an excellent dialysis performance and a high safety, supported by past actual results over a long term.
However, various problems are left unsolved in spite of the development of the hemodialysis therapy. For example, there can be mentioned various side effects considered to be caused by an anticoagulant which is administered in large quantities for a long time, the phenomenon of complement activation and leukopenia (i.e., white cell drop), both of which occur transiently during the initial phase of the dialysis procedure, although the clinical relevance of these phenomena has not been elucidated, that is, the phenomenon of leukopenia in which the number of leukocytes is reduced at the initial phase of the hemodialysis: this reduction is most prominent 15 to 20 minutes after the onset of the hemodialysis and the number is returned to the predialysis level within about 1 hour.
These problems are not serious in the case of membranes of synthetic polymers such as polymethyl methacrylate, polyacrylonitrile, and poly(ethylene-vinyl alcohol), but these synthetic polymer membranes are defective in that the mechanical strength is poor, pinholes are readily formed, the sterilization method is limited because of insufficient heat resistance, and the application method is limited by an improper balance among the properties, especially an improper balance between the water permeability and the substance permeability.
Modifications of surfaces of regenerated cellulose membranes have been proposed. For example, a method in which the membrane surface is modified with heparin to impart an antithrombotic property to the membrane surface is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,935 and Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 51-194. According to this method, however, satisfactory results cannot be obtained and the manufacturing cost is high, and therefore, membranes of this type have not been practically used. Recently, as means for moderating the phenomenon of the leukopenia, there have been recently proposed a regenerated cellulose membrane coated with an oil-soluble vitamin (see Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 60-80462) and a regenerated cellulose membrane to which a polymer acid is chemically bonded (see Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 60-118203). The former proposal is insufficient in the stability of the coated membrane, and the latter proposal has problems such that the process steps are complicated and the manufacturing cost is high.